Technology enabled data driven home care provider Five Good Friends has announced a strategic investment partnership with global alternative asset management firm TPG to fund the organisation’s continued growth.
A leader in the alternative asset space, TPG manages US$246 billion in assets through a principled focus on innovation.
TPG will acquire a majority interest in the Melbourne-based Five Good Friends while co-founders Simon Lockyer and Nathan Betteridge will retain significant interests in the company and continue in their leadership roles. Global investment organisation EQT will retain a minority stake.
Founded in 2016 as a technology-led disruptor, Five Good Friends is now a top 20 provider of home care services.
Five Good Friends also developed Lookout in 2021, a SaaS solution specifically built for the Australian home care market. Lookout enables the automated tracking, monitoring and reporting of care quality and outcomes via automatic check-in and check-out, family access to the care platform, recorded care notes, tracking of client data with automated escalation to care managers and complex rostering functions.
Lockyer said TPG’s investment is validation for the entire Five Good Friends and Lookout team and their ambitions to build a scalable care platform that delivers a higher-quality care experience underpinned by transparency and improved oversight.
“Today, Five Good Friends delivers 30,000 home care visits a month and have provided a total of more than 3 million hours of care since we started. Lookout is powering the care and service delivery of over 100 home care and NDIS providers.”
Betteridge added: “With the additional support of TPG, and their extensive experience in the healthcare and software space, we see enormous potential to continue this growth, empowering more people to remain connected to the homes, friends, families and communities they love. By providing control, advice, support, and a connected health ecosystem, Five Good Friends and Lookout are committed to transforming home care into caring homes.”
Co-head of TPG Asia and head of Australia and New Zealand Joel Thickins said that Five Good Friends has built a terrific business with all the elements required for continued success.
“At a time when broader in-home aged care reforms are taking place to ensure Australia’s elderly live independently at home for longer, their approach to home care and disability support, coupled with their cloud-based software solution, has enabled them to create a truly unique care delivery platform that combines the best of technology and human care,” he said.
“Five Good Friends’ mission closely aligns with our thematic focus on backing tech enabled businesses opening pathways to deliver higher quality and more efficient healthcare outcomes. We are excited to partner alongside Simon, Nathan and the Five Good Friends leadership in continuing to scale their platforms to become the leading home care solutions in market.”
Five Good Friends was ranked number eight in the top 10 best places to work in the health category of the 2021 AFR Best Places to Work awards.
This article was originally published in Community Care Review.
Follow Community Care Review on Facebook and LinkedIn and sign up to the newsletter.